A heavy fishy odor invaded Liu Zheng's nostrils.

In his daze, he seemed to see a massive salmon charging toward him.

Liu Zheng instinctively raised his tentacles to block, only to notice he was somehow holding a harpoon.

"Stab it."

A voice reminded him.

He took a deep breath and thrust toward the salmon's head.

Pale gray blood trickled out.

"Yah!"

The salmon painfully thrashed its tail, emitting an infant-like cry. This text is hosted at novel✦fire.net

"Warning, sanity value decreasing."

Liu Zheng reached out to grab something, but only caught a handful of cat fur.

"Why are you grabbing me, meow?"

The Calico Cat turned around with a confused expression.

"Nothing."

He smiled while wiping his hand.

The system prompt appeared again.

"Player has obtained 'Never Empty-Handed' status, lasting for one dungeon."

"Never Empty-Handed: Greatly increases fishing success rate, improves resistance to rational pollution from fish."

Well now, this would make any fishing enthusiast ecstatic.

Although he lost some sanity, Liu Zheng considered it a good trade.

While there were no fishing opportunities currently, that didn't mean there wouldn't be later.

Plus, there were plenty of fish dishes in the delivery service.

With this status, he wouldn't need to worry about losing sanity again.

After washing several more baskets of vegetables, the White Feather Chicken called out to Liu Zheng.

"Come taste this dish."

It scooped a spoonful of soup and handed it to Liu Zheng.

The soup had a faint yellow color with thick consistency, several black threads swimming through it with heads and tails visible.

"My sense of taste isn't working - my boss knows about this."

He quickly said.

"That's true."

Bullhorse nodded.

"Stop pretending, your sense of taste has already recovered."

The White Feather Chicken exposed his lie.

With high constitution plus "Flesh Rebirth," Liu Zheng's sense of taste had recovered this morning.

"But I don't know how to evaluate dishes."

He tried to struggle a bit more.

Although there was no system prompt, just looking at it told him this soup wasn't anything normal.

"The guest is human, I can't quite get it right."

The White Feather Chicken said honestly.

"Then maybe let..."

Liu Zheng looked around, exchanging glances with a bunch of monsters and spirits.

"Sigh."

He resignedly took the soup spoon and put it in his mouth.

"What does it taste like?"

The White Feather Chicken asked.

"Spicy."

Liu Zheng grimaced.

"Hmm, what else?"

The White Feather Chicken pulled out a small notebook and started writing.

"Sour."

Saliva uncontrollably flowed out, forming strands that hung down toward the ground.

"Anything else?"

"Numbing."

He said with a thick tongue, feeling his head buzzing.

"Anything else?"

The White Feather Chicken continued pressing.

"A bit salty, and there's an indescribable fishy taste."

"William, add two sprigs of rosemary and a small handful of bay leaves. Throw in two salt leeches to absorb the salt, three seconds is enough."

The White Feather Chicken turned and shouted.

A duck named William gave an OK gesture, took two leech-like creatures from a nearby culture dish, and threw them into the soup.

"Uh..."

Liu Zheng watched with his eyelids twitching.

"Now how about it?"

The White Feather Chicken asked again.

"Tasteless."

He smacked his lips, then his expression changed.

"I feel something crawling down my throat."

"This is normal, don't be nervous."

The White Feather Chicken said while pulling out a gas mask.

"Then why are you wearing a gas mask?"

Liu Zheng asked skeptically.

"This is also standard procedure, don't be nervous. Is everyone ready?"

The White Feather Chicken loudly asked.

"Ready."

Responses came from all around.

He looked left and right - all kitchen staff had put on gas masks.

Except him and Bullhorse.

"Alright, you can release it now."

The White Feather Chicken said.

"Release what?"

As soon as Liu Zheng asked, his stomach made violent squirming sounds.

His eyes widened in anger, his gluteus maximus muscles contracted and released, and immediately a turbid gas shot out.

His eyes widened in anger, his gluteus maximus muscles contracted and released, and immediately a turbid gas shot out.

The sound continued like machine gun fire, Liu Zheng's pants puffing up from the force.

A suffocating stench rapidly spread through the air, his eyes burning too much to keep open.

"Turn on fresh air! Full power!"

The White Feather Chicken commanded.

A kitchen employee immediately turned on the ventilation, huge motor noises filling the space.

A full half minute later, Liu Zheng finally stopped emitting gas.

The moment he saw his pant legs deflate, he actually felt like crying tears of relief.

Fortunately these creatures weren't human, otherwise he could forget about maintaining any dignity.

"I was careless, forgot you're not completely human."

The White Feather Chicken took off its gas mask with a serious expression.

"Wait, if he eats this, won't other guests complain?"

Liu Zheng questioned.

"That's a VIP guest, has their own private room."

The White Feather Chicken explained.

"But he'd smell it too and feel uncomfortable."

"Who knows, I only handle cooking. Customer experience is the service department's problem."

The White Feather Chicken shrugged and walked away on its own.

He pursed his lips, about to continue washing vegetables, when he saw Bullhorse charging toward him with a ferocious expression.

"Oh no!"

Liu Zheng felt a chill of fear.

Bullhorse hadn't worn a gas mask earlier.

He immediately dropped the vegetable basket and hid on the other side of the counter.

"Come here, I promise I won't beat you to death."

Bullhorse leaned on the table, panting heavily.

Tear stains remained at the corners of its eyes, clearly having been affected by the stench too.

"Do I look stupid?"

Liu Zheng scoffed at its promise.

"Besides, it's not like I wanted to fart. Find the source of the problem - go after Napoleon."

"The fart came from your ass, who else should I look for?"

Bullhorse glared.

"Well you're the one who brought me into the kitchen. If you hadn't brought me in, how would I have farted?"

He retorted.

"You little brat, I think you're just asking for a beating."

Bullhorse grew furious, stepped back two paces, and immediately prepared to jump over.

"Enough, why argue over such trivial fart matters."

The White Feather Chicken came to mediate.

"You have the nerve to say that, why didn't you give me a gas mask?"

Bullhorse shifted targets.

"Why the hell should I give you one? I haven't settled accounts with you over that bottle of Vlad III yet."

The White Feather Chicken grew angry, its comb turning blood red.

"What, want to settle this with a fight?"

Its chicken claws scraped the ground, leaving plow marks on the stainless steel surface.

"Hey, that's all in the past, why keep bringing it up."

Bullhorse said with an embarrassed laugh.

"Hmph. Not fighting? Then go out and receive the shipment."

"Smuggled goods?"

Bullhorse frowned.

"Exactly. Last batch wasn't inspected properly, I'll take that loss. But after losing so many personnel, I can't just stay silent."

"Since you're not kitchen staff anyway, help me vent this anger."

The White Feather Chicken nodded heavily.

"Those people aren't easy to deal with. What's in it for me?"

Bullhorse asked.

"The Vlad III matter is settled. As for your subordinate, I can give him a cup of Golden Mead."

The White Feather Chicken glanced at Liu Zheng.

"So generous?"

Bullhorse also looked at Liu Zheng.

"Are you going? First let me be clear - if a real fight breaks out, I might not be able to protect you."

It said.

"What's Golden Mead?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"You've already gone mad once, right?"

The White Feather Chicken countered.

"Yes."

He admitted frankly.

These days, having mental issues wasn't shameful - not having them meant you weren't human.

"Go mad one more time, and you should hear the Gospel again."

The White Feather Chicken said ominously.